The organization “Young Barristers”  appeals to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to provide legal response to the  unfair  dismissal of persons on the political or civil grounds  within the educational system  during 2006-2012 and start legal proceedings against the former Minister of Education and  Science of Georgia, Dimitry Shashkin.  During 2009-2012, when  Dimitry Shashkini was the Minister, hundreds of employees were dismissed from  different educational institutions. 

According to the statement of the Chief-executive of the “Young Barristers”, Archil Kaikatsishvili, Dimitry Shashkini   has  allegedly   violated  following articles of the Criminal Justice Code of Georgia: an article 150 – coercion, an article 156 – persecution, an article 332 – abuse of official authority  and an article 333 – exceeding official powers. According to the evaluation of the organization, the report, published by the Special Committee reviewing cases of   persons employed in Education System of Georgia and Dismissed for political reasons, during the period of the  “United National Movement” governance,  confirms the existence  of the criminal system  and it  should not be left without  proper  legal response.

According to the “Young Barristers”, the conclusion submitted  by the Committee,  provides sufficient ground for the Prosecutor’s Office to start investigation against  officials acting against law.  Individual cases examined by the commission is directly linked to the illegal decisions made  by high ranking officials of the educational system of that time. It is important, that the former Minister, Dimitry Shashkini responded to the facts of dismissed employees , considered  unreliable due to the political reasons and took  legal responsibility for the massive dismissals of persons, employed within the educational system,  in particular before the Parliamentary elections in  2012.  If such cases are not investigated and the offenders are not liable for the committed crimes, the society will have feeling,  that the current Government   cannot ensure  the protection of human rights and the rule of law as well,   like the previous one. 

According to the “Young Barristers”, the work of the Committee can’t be productive and effective, unless criminal offences, reflected in it’s  reports, are not investigated. That’s why the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia should start investigation. 

For more information: according to the report of May 4 , 2015 of the Committee reviewing cases of persons employed in Education System of Georgia and dismissed  for political reasons :  during 2006-2013, 70 persons have been dismissed from public schools and educational resource centers through the gross violation of the law and 23 persons on political grounds. The Committee has considered 830 applications in total. It should be also noted, that the Committee is not authorized to consider the dismissal cases within the vocational institutions subordinated to the Ministry. The “Young Barristers” think, this is a significant gap, but yet, it highly appreciates  unprecedented activities,  performed  by the Committee .